Sallu Swaray
2 July 2009
The Liberian educational system is said to be suffering from the shock of the decade-long civil war, an official of the Ministry of Education has said in Monrovia.
The Deputy Director for School Health Division of the Ministry of Education, Charles Kumbly said the 14 years civil war in the country has gravely affected the educational system, and as a result, he added that learning institutions continue to experience the lack of quality teachers and instructional materials.
Speaking at the weekend during program marking the 9th Thanksgiving Service of the Early Breed Foundation School in Clara Town, Mr. Kumbly blamed the situation on the low salary of teachers.
He said teachers were not making enough as compensation for the services they are rendering the nation.
“This situation has caused many of our trained and qualified teachers to seek greener pasture in other areas of employment for higher pay,” he said, and added “This condition has made many schools in our country to experience lack of trained and qualified teachers.”
The lack of trained and qualified teachers, the MOE official said is affecting efforts aimed at providing quality education and making the school system up to standard.
Another issue Mr. Kumbly believes is playing on the educational system is the level of corruption in the schools nowadays such as teachers/students bribery and other forms of dishonesty.
This type of situation, according to him, continued to underpin “quality system of evaluation within our education system.”
The Ministry of Education official said it would difficult to execute policies aimed at revamping the system, especially efforts geared towards giving youth greater priority.
“Any effort by this Government to prioritize youth education, particularly the girls’ education will be challenged if these mal-practices are not stamped out,” he said.
The government, he said, is not bowing out to this situation, noting “The government of Liberia means well when it says that every child in this country is bound to be educated because it is an important component of the poverty reduction strategy.”
According to him, the best meaning of education depends on how the receiver utilizes the skills and knowledge acquired.
“It does not matter the location of the school but the quality of teachers and the students readiness to learn,” Mr. Kumbly observed.
He urged the graduates to push forward and realize that the level of education they acquired should not be an end to their learning process.
“You who are graduating today, but I encourage you to pursue higher education which is likely to be the answer to the problems of better living in our Liberian Society,” he said and called on the national government through the MOE to include subsidy for schools in the suburbs of Monrovia and its environs.
For his part, the Chairman Board of Director of the Early Breed Foundation School, Chief Marshall of the Supreme Court of Liberia/Gen.Amos Dickson thanked those who gave support to the institution throughout the years.
He called on parents to not relent, but that they must make it their responsibility to ensure that the children acquire better education.
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